The art of the present invention relates to temperature controllers for fuel fired cooking equipment in general and more particularly to an apparatus and method of use which automatically controls the air feeding the fuel (typically charcoal or wood) of a barbeque grill, smoker, or cooker and which is easily installed upon commercially available equipment without modification.
Currently there are a number or plurality of prior art solutions for automatically controlling the cooking temperature of a solid fueled food cooker. These inventions or prior art attempts to provide a solution that is easy to use, fail to meet the needs of the marketplace because they are difficult to configure and to connect to the cooker and because of their increased cost. Primarily, this is because they are composed of independent components that must be connected together during installation. Specifically, these prior art systems are composed of physically separated components that must be attached and/or connected by the user. These components include the air blower assembly, the cooker adapter, the electronic controller, and the cooking temperature probe. In using said prior art solutions, the user attaches the cooker adapter directly to the cooker with tools such as wrenches, screwdrivers, or other specialty tools. The prior art air blower assembly, consisting of an air blower and a housing, is then attached to the cooker adapter, again typically using tools. The air blower assembly power cable is then connected to the electronic controller box that typically rests on the ground or on a table. The cooking temperature sensor cable is then plugged into the electronic controller box and the cable is routed into the cooker under the cooker's lid or through a door, often causing physical abrasion, pinching, and mechanical stresses on the wires inside the cable. In addition, these systems require the user to select both a cooker adapter and an air blower assembly that is sized specifically for a single cooker size. The prior art user-chosen air blower (which is commercially available) is not modulated with a variable voltage to control its speed between full off and full on, thus a specific air blower size is required for a specific cooker size. When the user moves the prior art controller solution or system to another cooker, it is commonly required that the user purchase both a different size air blower assembly and a different cooker adapter. Additionally, no means or apparatus is provided to hang the electronic controller from handles present on the cooker nor is an internal battery pack offered for these solutions. Also, the increased complexity of these prior art solutions unnecessarily increases both the user's time required to attach and to connect them to a cooker as well as the system cost.
The present invention provides a self contained blower and blower controller which attaches with a cooker, grill, or smoker via a flexible hose, measures the ambient air temperature within the cooker, and adjusts the air flow into the cooker via a unique algorithm, all in a compact device which may be easily hung onto the cooker. The present art may be installed upon commercially available cookers without the requirement of specialty tools. The unique algorithmic control allows for a minimal use of fuel (typically charcoal or wood) to provide optimum cooking thereby minimizing energy consumption and also adaptively learns the thermal mass parameters of the cooker in order to meet the desired temperature quickly with a minimum of overshoot.
The present art provides stable and precise temperature control of a wood or charcoal fired barbecue grill or smoker. It also easily attaches to a cooker already in the possession of the user without modification. The preferred embodiment present art apparatus is a single assembly which attaches to the user's cooker without the use of any tools. The present art is also simpler, easily configured, and of a lower cost than other solutions in the marketplace which allows owners of low cost food cookers to retrofit their cooker with automatic temperature control.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic temperature control device for solid fuel fired food cooker representing an apparatus and method of use which provides the necessary air for combustion to the solid fuel in a self contained compact unit which may be quickly adapted to any cooker without the requirement of specialty tools and that does not suffer from any of the problems or deficiencies associated with prior art solutions.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic temperature control device and method of use for barbecue grills and smokers that is easily installed on the user's grill or smoker in under one minute without the use of any tools, is simple to understand, does not require the user to select a specific separate air blower, and does not require the user to select a specific cooker adapter to mount the air blower to the cooker.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic temperature control device for solid fuel fired food cooker representing an apparatus and method of use which adaptively senses or measures the thermal parameters of the cooker and adjusts the airflow of combustion to rapidly and precisely meet the set temperature with a minimum of overshoot.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an automatic temperature control device for solid fuel fired food cooker representing an apparatus and method of use which utilizes a blower time proportioning algorithm and/or a blower speed control algorithm in conjunction with a take back half proportional integral derivative (PID) algorithm in order to optimally meet the desired cooking environment temperature.
A yet further object of the present invention is to provide an automatic temperature control device for solid fuel fired food cooker representing an apparatus and method of use which utilizes an automatic or manual damper system to allow control of naturally occurring convection currents.
A still further object of the present invention to provide an automatic temperature control device and method of use for barbecue grills and smokers that senses the combustion air volume requirements of the cooker and adjusts the air blower speed accordingly, thereby allowing a larger air blower to satisfy the combustion air requirements of both large and small cookers alike.